"I thought it was a scrappy game. There were a lot of fundamental skills errors, probably from both sides but particularly from us, particularly with some errors forward of centre and decision-making, which we missed with some opportunities to hit the scoreboard," Bolton said.

"I thought all of our players at times were a little bit scrappy, that's probably the best way to assess it.

"We had moments. I thought we started the game really well, we finished well, we had a crack late, we had some looks, in between it was scrappy."

The loss was Carlton's fourth in a row and leaves them in 16th place on the ladder, with five wins so far this season.

Carlton has lost its past three games at the Gabba, with its last win coming in Round 9, 2013.

Injury List

Carlton’s depth will be put to the test this week with an injury toll that continues to grow.

Dale Thomas was a late withdrawal from the loss to the Bulldogs with a calf strain and he will undergo a fitness test later this week to ascertain whether he is right to play on Sunday.